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Cartesiancoordinatesystem
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

ACartesiancoordinatesystemisacoordinatesystemthatspecifies
eachpointuniquelyinaplanebyapairofnumericalcoordinates,
whicharethesigneddistancestothepointfromtwofixed
perpendiculardirectedlines,measuredinthesameunitoflength.Each
referencelineiscalledacoordinateaxisorjustaxisofthesystem,and
thepointwheretheymeetisitsorigin,usuallyatorderedpair(0,0).
Thecoordinatescanalsobedefinedasthepositionsofthe
perpendicularprojectionsofthepointontothetwoaxes,expressedas
signeddistancesfromtheorigin.
Onecanusethesameprincipletospecifythepositionofanypointin
threedimensionalspacebythreeCartesiancoordinates,itssigned
distancestothreemutuallyperpendicularplanes(or,equivalently,by
itsperpendicularprojectionontothreemutuallyperpendicularlines).
Ingeneral,nCartesiancoordinates(anelementofrealnspace)specify
thepointinanndimensionalEuclideanspaceforanydimensionn.
Thesecoordinatesareequal,uptosign,todistancesfromthepointton
mutuallyperpendicularhyperplanes.
TheinventionofCartesiancoordinatesinthe17thcenturybyRen
Descartes(Latinizedname:Cartesius)revolutionizedmathematicsby
providingthefirstsystematiclinkbetweenEuclideangeometryand
algebra.UsingtheCartesiancoordinatesystem,geometricshapes
(suchascurves)canbedescribedbyCartesianequations:algebraic
equationsinvolvingthecoordinatesofthepointslyingontheshape.
Forexample,acircleofradius2,centeredattheoriginoftheplane,
maybedescribedasthesetofallpointswhosecoordinatesxandy
satisfytheequationx2+y2=4.
Cartesiancoordinatesarethefoundationofanalyticgeometry,and
provideenlighteninggeometricinterpretationsformanyother
branchesofmathematics,suchaslinearalgebra,complexanalysis,
differentialgeometry,multivariatecalculus,grouptheoryandmore.A
familiarexampleistheconceptofthegraphofafunction.Cartesian
coordinatesarealsoessentialtoolsformostapplieddisciplinesthat
dealwithgeometry,includingastronomy,physics,engineeringand
manymore.Theyarethemostcommoncoordinatesystemusedin
computergraphics,computeraidedgeometricdesignandother
geometryrelateddataprocessing.

IllustrationofaCartesiancoordinateplane.
Fourpointsaremarkedandlabeledwith
theircoordinates:(2,3)ingreen,(3,1)in
red,(1.5,2.5)inblue,andtheorigin
(0,0)inpurple.

Cartesiancoordinatesystemwithacircle
ofradius2centeredattheoriginmarkedin
red.Theequationofacircleis
(xa)2+(yb)2=r2whereaandbare
thecoordinatesofthecenter(a,b)andris
theradius.

Contents
1 History
2 Description
2.1 Onedimension
2.2 Twodimensions
2.3 Threedimensions
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2.3 Threedimensions
2.4 Higherdimensions
2.5 Generalizations
3 Notationsandconventions
3.1 Quadrantsandoctants
4 Cartesianformulaefortheplane
4.1 Distancebetweentwopoints
4.2 Euclideantransformations
4.2.1 Translation
4.2.2 Rotation
4.2.3 Reflection
4.2.4 Glidereflection
4.2.5 Generalmatrixformofthetransformations
4.2.6 Affinetransformation
4.2.7 Scaling
4.2.8 Shearing
5 Orientationandhandedness
5.1 Intwodimensions
5.2 Inthreedimensions
6 Representingavectorinthestandardbasis
7 Applications
8 Seealso
9 Notes
10 References
11 Sources
12 Furtherreading
13 Externallinks

History
TheadjectiveCartesianreferstotheFrenchmathematicianandphilosopherRenDescartes(whousedthename
CartesiusinLatin).
Theideaofthissystemwasdevelopedin1637inwritingsbyDescartesandindependentlybyPierredeFermat,
althoughFermatalsoworkedinthreedimensionsanddidnotpublishthediscovery.[1]Bothauthorsusedasingle
axisintheirtreatmentsandhaveavariablelengthmeasuredinreferencetothisaxis.Theconceptofusingapairof
axeswasintroducedlater,afterDescartes'LaGomtriewastranslatedintoLatinin1649byFransvanSchooten
andhisstudents.Thesecommentatorsintroducedseveralconceptswhiletryingtoclarifytheideascontainedin
Descartes'work.[2]
ThedevelopmentoftheCartesiancoordinatesystemwouldplayafundamentalroleinthedevelopmentofthe
calculusbyIsaacNewtonandGottfriedWilhelmLeibniz.[3]
NicoleOresme,aFrenchclericandfriendoftheDauphin(latertobecomeKingCharlesV)ofthe14thCentury,
usedconstructionssimilartoCartesiancoordinateswellbeforethetimeofDescartesandFermat.
ManyothercoordinatesystemshavebeendevelopedsinceDescartes,suchasthepolarcoordinatesfortheplane,
andthesphericalandcylindricalcoordinatesforthreedimensionalspace.

Description
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Onedimension
ChoosingaCartesiancoordinatesystemforaonedimensionalspacethatis,forastraightlineinvolves
choosingapointOoftheline(theorigin),aunitoflength,andanorientationfortheline.Anorientationchooses
whichofthetwohalflinesdeterminedbyOisthepositive,andwhichisnegativewethensaythattheline"is
oriented"(or"points")fromthenegativehalftowardsthepositivehalf.TheneachpointPofthelinecanbe
specifiedbyitsdistancefromO,takenwitha+orsigndependingonwhichhalflinecontainsP.
AlinewithachosenCartesiansystemiscalledanumberline.Everyrealnumberhasauniquelocationonthe
line.Conversely,everypointonthelinecanbeinterpretedasanumberinanorderedcontinuumsuchasthereal
numbers.

Twodimensions
TheCartesiancoordinatesystemintwodimensions(alsocalledarectangularcoordinatesystem)isdefinedby
anorderedpairofperpendicularlines(axes),asingleunitoflengthforbothaxes,andanorientationforeachaxis.
(Earlysystemsallowed"oblique"axes,thatis,axesthatdidnotmeetatrightangles.)Thelinesarecommonly
referredtoasthexandyaxeswherethexaxisistakentobehorizontalandtheyaxisistakentobevertical.The
pointwheretheaxesmeetistakenastheoriginforboth,thusturningeachaxisintoanumberline.Foragiven
pointP,alineisdrawnthroughPperpendiculartothexaxistomeetitatXandsecondlineisdrawnthroughP
perpendiculartotheyaxistomeetitatY.ThecoordinatesofParethenXandYinterpretedasnumbersxandyon
thecorrespondingnumberlines.Thecoordinatesarewrittenasanorderedpair(x,y).
Thepointwheretheaxesmeetisthecommonoriginofthetwonumberlinesandissimplycalledtheorigin.Itis
oftenlabeledOandifsothentheaxesarecalledOxandOy.Aplanewithxandyaxesdefinedisoftenreferredto
astheCartesianplaneorxyplane.Thevalueofxiscalledthexcoordinateorabscissaandthevalueofyiscalled
theycoordinateorordinate.
Thechoicesofletterscomefromtheoriginalconvention,whichistousethelatterpartofthealphabettoindicate
unknownvalues.Thefirstpartofthealphabetwasusedtodesignateknownvalues.
IntheCartesianplane,referenceissometimesmadetoaunitcircleoraunithyperbola.
NotethatifapointonXYplaneis(x,y).thentheperpendiculardistofthepointfromxaxisis|y|andthe
perpendiculardistofthepointfromyaxisis|x|

Threedimensions
ChoosingaCartesiancoordinatesystemforathreedimensionalspacemeanschoosinganorderedtripletoflines
(axes)thatarepairwiseperpendicular,haveasingleunitoflengthforallthreeaxesandhaveanorientationfor
eachaxis.Asinthetwodimensionalcase,eachaxisbecomesanumberline.ThecoordinatesofapointPare
obtainedbydrawingalinethroughPperpendiculartoeachcoordinateaxis,andreadingthepointswherethese
linesmeettheaxesasthreenumbersofthesenumberlines.
Alternatively,thecoordinatesofapointPcanalsobetakenasthe(signed)distancesfromPtothethreeplanes
definedbythethreeaxes.Iftheaxesarenamedx,y,andz,thenthexcoordinateisthedistancefromtheplane
definedbytheyandzaxes.Thedistanceistobetakenwiththe+orsign,dependingonwhichofthetwohalf
spacesseparatedbythatplanecontainsP.Theyandzcoordinatescanbeobtainedinthesamewayfromthexz
andxyplanesrespectively.

Higherdimensions
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AEuclideanplanewithachosenCartesiansystemiscalledaCartesian
plane.SinceCartesiancoordinatesareuniqueandnonambiguous,the
pointsofaCartesianplanecanbeidentifiedwithpairsofrealnumbers
thatiswiththeCartesianproduct
,where isthesetofall
reals.Inthesameway,thepointsinanyEuclideanspaceofdimensionn
beidentifiedwiththetuples(lists)ofnrealnumbers,thatis,withthe
Cartesianproduct .

Generalizations
TheconceptofCartesiancoordinatesgeneralizestoallowaxesthatare
notperpendiculartoeachother,and/ordifferentunitsalongeachaxis.In
thatcase,eachcoordinateisobtainedbyprojectingthepointontoone
axisalongadirectionthatisparalleltotheotheraxis(or,ingeneral,to
thehyperplanedefinedbyalltheotheraxes).Insuchanoblique
coordinatesystemthecomputationsofdistancesandanglesmustbe
modifiedfromthatinstandardCartesiansystems,andmanystandard
formulas(suchasthePythagoreanformulaforthedistance)donothold
(seeAffineplane).

AthreedimensionalCartesiancoordinate
system,withoriginOandaxislinesX,Y
andZ,orientedasshownbythearrows.
Thetickmarksontheaxesareonelength
unitapart.Theblackdotshowsthepoint
withcoordinatesx=2,y=3,andz=4,
or(2,3,4).

Notationsandconventions
TheCartesiancoordinatesofapointareusuallywritteninparentheses
andseparatedbycommas,asin(10,5)or(3,5,7).Theoriginisoften
labelledwiththecapitalletterO.Inanalyticgeometry,unknownor
genericcoordinatesareoftendenotedbytheletters(x,y)intheplane,
and(x,y,z)inthreedimensionalspace.Thiscustomcomesfroma
conventionofalgebra,whichuseslettersneartheendofthealphabetfor
unknownvalues(suchaswerethecoordinatesofpointsinmany
geometricproblems),andlettersnearthebeginningforgivenquantities.
Theseconventionalnamesareoftenusedinotherdomains,suchas
physicsandengineering,althoughotherlettersmaybeused.For
example,inagraphshowinghowapressurevarieswithtime,thegraph
coordinatesmaybedenotedtandp.Eachaxisisusuallynamedafterthe
coordinatewhichismeasuredalongitsoonesaysthexaxis,theyaxis,
thetaxis,etc.
Anothercommonconventionforcoordinatenamingistousesubscripts,
as(x1,x2,...,xn)forthencoordinatesinanndimensionalspace,
especiallywhennisgreaterthan3orunspecified.Someauthorsprefer
thenumbering(x0,x1,...,xn1).Thesenotationsareespecially
advantageousincomputerprogramming:bystoringthecoordinatesofa
pointasanarray,insteadofarecord,thesubscriptcanservetoindexthe
coordinates.

ThecoordinatesurfacesoftheCartesian
coordinates(x,y,z).Thezaxisisvertical
andthexaxisishighlightedingreen.
Thus,theredplaneshowsthepointswith
x=1,theblueplaneshowsthepoints
withz=1,andtheyellowplaneshows
thepointswithy=1.Thethreesurfaces
intersectatthepointP(shownasablack
sphere)withtheCartesiancoordinates
(1,1,1).

InmathematicalillustrationsoftwodimensionalCartesiansystems,thefirstcoordinate(traditionallycalledthe
abscissa)ismeasuredalongahorizontalaxis,orientedfromlefttoright.Thesecondcoordinate(theordinate)is
thenmeasuredalongaverticalaxis,usuallyorientedfrombottomtotop.
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However,computergraphicsandimageprocessingoftenuseacoordinatesystemwiththeyaxisoriented
downwardsonthecomputerdisplay.Thisconventiondevelopedinthe1960s(orearlier)fromthewaythatimages
wereoriginallystoredindisplaybuffers.
Forthreedimensionalsystems,aconventionistoportraythexyplanehorizontally,withthezaxisaddedto
representheight(positiveup).Furthermore,thereisaconventiontoorientthexaxistowardtheviewer,biased
eithertotherightorleft.Ifadiagram(3Dprojectionor2Dperspectivedrawing)showsthexandyaxis
horizontallyandvertically,respectively,thenthezaxisshouldbeshownpointing"outofthepage"towardsthe
viewerorcamera.Insucha2Ddiagramofa3Dcoordinatesystem,thezaxiswouldappearasalineorray
pointingdownandtotheleftordownandtotheright,dependingonthepresumedviewerorcameraperspective.
Inanydiagramordisplay,theorientationofthethreeaxes,asawhole,isarbitrary.However,theorientationofthe
axesrelativetoeachothershouldalwayscomplywiththerighthandrule,unlessspecificallystatedotherwise.All
lawsofphysicsandmathassumethisrighthandedness,whichensuresconsistency.
For3Ddiagrams,thenames"abscissa"and"ordinate"arerarelyusedforxandy,respectively.Whentheyare,the
zcoordinateissometimescalledtheapplicate.Thewordsabscissa,ordinateandapplicatearesometimesusedto
refertocoordinateaxesratherthanthecoordinatevalues.[4]

Quadrantsandoctants
TheaxesofatwodimensionalCartesiansystemdividetheplaneinto
fourinfiniteregions,calledquadrants,eachboundedbytwohalfaxes.
Theseareoftennumberedfrom1stto4thanddenotedbyRoman
numerals:I(wherethesignsofthetwocoordinatesare+,+),II(,+),III
(,),andIV(+,).Whentheaxesaredrawnaccordingtothe
mathematicalcustom,thenumberinggoescounterclockwisestarting
fromtheupperright("northeast")quadrant.
Similarly,athreedimensionalCartesiansystemdefinesadivisionof
spaceintoeightregionsoroctants,accordingtothesignsofthe
coordinatesofthepoints.Theconventionusedfornamingaspecific
octantistolistitssigns,e.g.(+++)or(+).Thegeneralizationofthe
quadrantandoctanttoanarbitrarynumberofdimensionsistheorthant,
andasimilarnamingsystemapplies.

ThefourquadrantsofaCartesian
coordinatesystem.

Cartesianformulaefortheplane
Distancebetweentwopoints
TheEuclideandistancebetweentwopointsoftheplanewithCartesiancoordinates

and

is

ThisistheCartesianversionofPythagoras'stheorem.Inthreedimensionalspace,thedistancebetweenpoints
and
is

whichcanbeobtainedbytwoconsecutiveapplicationsofPythagoras'theorem.
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Euclideantransformations
TheEuclideantransformationsorEuclideanmotionsarethe(bijective)mappingsofpointsoftheEuclideanplane
tothemselveswhichpreservedistancesbetweenpoints.Therearefourtypesofthesemappings(alsocalled
isometries):translations,rotations,reflectionsandglidereflections.[5]
Translation
Translatingasetofpointsoftheplane,preservingthedistancesanddirectionsbetweenthem,isequivalentto
addingafixedpairofnumbers(a,b)totheCartesiancoordinatesofeverypointintheset.Thatis,iftheoriginal
coordinatesofapointare(x,y),afterthetranslationtheywillbe

Rotation
Torotateafigurecounterclockwisearoundtheoriginbysomeangle isequivalenttoreplacingeverypointwith
coordinates(x,y)bythepointwithcoordinates(x',y'),where

Thus:
Reflection
If(x,y)aretheCartesiancoordinatesofapoint,then(x,y)arethecoordinatesofitsreflectionacrossthesecond
coordinateaxis(theYaxis),asifthatlinewereamirror.Likewise,(x,y)arethecoordinatesofitsreflection
acrossthefirstcoordinateaxis(theXaxis).Inmoregenerality,reflectionacrossalinethroughtheoriginmaking
anangle withthexaxis,isequivalenttoreplacingeverypointwithcoordinates(x,y)bythepointwith
coordinates(x,y),where

Thus:
Glidereflection
Aglidereflectionisthecompositionofareflectionacrossalinefollowedbyatranslationinthedirectionofthat
line.Itcanbeseenthattheorderoftheseoperationsdoesnotmatter(thetranslationcancomefirst,followedby
thereflection).
Generalmatrixformofthetransformations
TheseEuclideantransformationsoftheplanecanallbedescribedinauniformwaybyusingmatrices.Theresult
ofapplyingaEuclideantransformationtoapoint
isgivenbytheformula

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whereAisa22orthogonalmatrixandb=(b1,b2)isanarbitraryorderedpairofnumbers[6]thatis,

where
[Notetheuseofrowvectorsforpointcoordinatesandthatthematrixiswritten
ontheright.]
Tobeorthogonal,thematrixAmusthaveorthogonalrowswithsameEuclideanlengthofone,thatis,

and

ThisisequivalenttosayingthatAtimesitstransposemustbetheidentitymatrix.Iftheseconditionsdonothold,
theformuladescribesamoregeneralaffinetransformationoftheplaneprovidedthatthedeterminantofAisnot
zero.
TheformuladefinesatranslationifandonlyifAistheidentitymatrix.Thetransformationisarotationaround
somepointifandonlyifAisarotationmatrix,meaningthat

Areflectionorglidereflectionisobtainedwhen,

Assumingthattranslationisnotusedtransformationscanbecombinedbysimplymultiplyingtheassociated
transformationmatrices.
Affinetransformation
AnotherwaytorepresentcoordinatetransformationsinCartesiancoordinatesisthroughaffinetransformations.In
affinetransformationsanextradimensionisaddedandallpointsaregivenavalueof1forthisextradimension.
TheadvantageofdoingthisisthatpointtranslationscanbespecifiedinthefinalcolumnofmatrixA.Inthisway,
alloftheeuclideantransformationsbecometransactableasmatrixpointmultiplications.Theaffinetransformation
isgivenby:

[NotethematrixAfromabovewastransposed.Thematrixis
ontheleftandcolumnvectorsforpointcoordinatesareused.]
Usingaffinetransformationsmultipledifferenteuclideantransformationsincludingtranslationcanbecombinedby
simplymultiplyingthecorrespondingmatrices.

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Scaling
AnexampleofanaffinetransformationwhichisnotaEuclideanmotionisgivenbyscaling.Tomakeafigure
largerorsmallerisequivalenttomultiplyingtheCartesiancoordinatesofeverypointbythesamepositivenumber
m.If(x,y)arethecoordinatesofapointontheoriginalfigure,thecorrespondingpointonthescaledfigurehas
coordinates

Ifmisgreaterthan1,thefigurebecomeslargerifmisbetween0and1,itbecomessmaller.
Shearing
Ashearingtransformationwillpushthetopofasquaresidewaystoformaparallelogram.Horizontalshearingis
definedby:

Shearingcanalsobeappliedvertically:

Orientationandhandedness
Intwodimensions
Fixingorchoosingthexaxisdeterminestheyaxisuptodirection.Namely,
theyaxisisnecessarilytheperpendiculartothexaxisthroughthepoint
marked0onthexaxis.Butthereisachoiceofwhichofthetwohalflines
ontheperpendiculartodesignateaspositiveandwhichasnegative.Each
ofthesetwochoicesdeterminesadifferentorientation(alsocalled
handedness)oftheCartesianplane.

Therighthandrule.

Theusualwayoforientingtheaxes,withthepositivexaxispointingright
andthepositiveyaxispointingup(andthexaxisbeingthe"first"andthe
yaxisthe"second"axis)isconsideredthepositiveorstandardorientation,
alsocalledtherighthandedorientation.

Acommonlyusedmnemonicfordefiningthepositiveorientationistherighthandrule.Placingasomewhat
closedrighthandontheplanewiththethumbpointingup,thefingerspointfromthexaxistotheyaxis,ina
positivelyorientedcoordinatesystem.
Theotherwayoforientingtheaxesisfollowingthelefthandrule,placingthelefthandontheplanewiththe
thumbpointingup.
Whenpointingthethumbawayfromtheoriginalonganaxistowardspositive,thecurvatureofthefingers
indicatesapositiverotationalongthataxis.
Regardlessoftheruleusedtoorienttheaxes,rotatingthecoordinatesystemwillpreservetheorientation.
Switchinganytwoaxeswillreversetheorientation,butswitchingbothwillleavetheorientationunchanged.
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Inthreedimensions

Fig.7Thelefthanded
orientationisshownontheleft,
andtherighthandedontheright.

Oncethexandyaxesarespecified,they
determinethelinealongwhichthezaxis
shouldlie,buttherearetwopossible
directionsonthisline.Thetwopossible
coordinatesystemswhichresultarecalled
'righthanded'and'lefthanded'.The
standardorientation,wherethexyplaneis
horizontalandthezaxispointsup(and
thexandtheyaxisformapositively
orientedtwodimensionalcoordinate
systeminthexyplaneifobservedfrom
abovethexyplane)iscalledright

Fig.8Therighthanded
Cartesiancoordinatesystem
indicatingthecoordinateplanes.

handedorpositive.
Thenamederivesfromtherighthandrule.Iftheindexfingeroftheright
handispointedforward,themiddlefingerbentinwardatarightangletoit,
andthethumbplacedatarightangletoboth,thethreefingersindicatethe
relativedirectionsofthex,y,andzaxesinarighthandedsystem.The
thumbindicatesthexaxis,theindexfingertheyaxisandthemiddlefinger
thezaxis.Conversely,ifthesameisdonewiththelefthand,alefthanded
systemresults.
3DCartesianCoordinateHandedness

Figure7depictsaleftandarighthandedcoordinatesystem.Becausea
threedimensionalobjectisrepresentedonthetwodimensionalscreen,
distortionandambiguityresult.Theaxispointingdownward(andtotheright)isalsomeanttopointtowardsthe
observer,whereasthe"middle"axisismeanttopointawayfromtheobserver.Theredcircleisparalleltothe
horizontalxyplaneandindicatesrotationfromthexaxistotheyaxis(inbothcases).Hencetheredarrowpasses
infrontofthezaxis.
Figure8isanotherattemptatdepictingarighthandedcoordinatesystem.Again,thereisanambiguitycausedby
projectingthethreedimensionalcoordinatesystemintotheplane.ManyobserversseeFigure8as"flippinginand
out"betweenaconvexcubeandaconcave"corner".Thiscorrespondstothetwopossibleorientationsofthe
coordinatesystem.Seeingthefigureasconvexgivesalefthandedcoordinatesystem.Thusthe"correct"wayto
viewFigure8istoimaginethexaxisaspointingtowardstheobserverandthusseeingaconcavecorner.

Representingavectorinthestandardbasis
ApointinspaceinaCartesiancoordinatesystemmayalsoberepresentedbyapositionvector,whichcanbe
thoughtofasanarrowpointingfromtheoriginofthecoordinatesystemtothepoint.[7]Ifthecoordinatesrepresent
spatialpositions(displacements),itiscommontorepresentthevectorfromtheorigintothepointofinterestas .
Intwodimensions,thevectorfromtheorigintothepointwithCartesiancoordinates(x,y)canbewrittenas:

where

,and

areunitvectorsinthedirectionofthexaxisandyaxisrespectively,generally

referredtoasthestandardbasis(insomeapplicationareasthesemayalsobereferredtoasversors).Similarly,in
threedimensions,thevectorfromtheorigintothepointwithCartesiancoordinates
canbewrittenas:[8]
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where

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istheunitvectorinthedirectionofthezaxis.

Thereisnonaturalinterpretationofmultiplyingvectorstoobtainanothervectorthatworksinalldimensions,
howeverthereisawaytousecomplexnumberstoprovidesuchamultiplication.Inatwodimensionalcartesian
plane,identifythepointwithcoordinates(x,y)withthecomplexnumberz=x+iy.Here,iistheimaginaryunit
andisidentifiedwiththepointwithcoordinates(0,1),soitisnottheunitvectorinthedirectionofthexaxis.
Sincethecomplexnumberscanbemultipliedgivinganothercomplexnumber,thisidentificationprovidesameans
to"multiply"vectors.Inathreedimensionalcartesianspaceasimilaridentificationcanbemadewithasubsetof
thequaternions.

Applications
Cartesiancoordinatesareanabstractionthathaveamultitudeofpossibleapplicationsintherealworld.However,
threeconstructivestepsareinvolvedinsuperimposingcoordinatesonaproblemapplication.1)Unitsofdistance
mustbedecideddefiningthespatialsizerepresentedbythenumbersusedascoordinates.2)Anoriginmustbe
assignedtoaspecificspatiallocationorlandmark,and3)theorientationoftheaxesmustbedefinedusing
availabledirectionalcuesfor(n1)ofthenaxes.
Considerasanexamplesuperimposing3DCartesiancoordinatesoverallpointsontheEarth(i.e.geospatial3D).
Whatunitsmakesense?Kilometersareagoodchoice,sincetheoriginaldefinitionofthekilometerwas
geospatial...10,000kmequallingthesurfacedistancefromtheEquatortotheNorthPole.Wheretoplacethe
origin?Basedonsymmetry,thegravitationalcenteroftheEarthsuggestsanaturallandmark(whichcanbesensed
viasatelliteorbits).Finally,howtoorientX,YandZaxisdirections?TheaxisofEarth'sspinprovidesanatural
directionstronglyassociatedwith"upvs.down",sopositiveZcanadoptthedirectionfromgeocentertoNorth
Pole.AlocationontheEquatorisneededtodefinetheXaxis,andthePrimeMeridianstandsoutasareference
direction,sotheXaxistakesthedirectionfromgeocenteroutto[0degreeslongitude,0degreeslatitude].Note
thatwith3dimensions,andtwoperpendicularaxesdirectionspinneddownforXandZ,theYaxisisdetermined
bythefirsttwochoices.Inordertoobeytherighthandrule,theYaxismustpointoutfromthegeocenterto[90
degreeslongitude,0degreeslatitude].SowhatarethegeocentriccoordinatesoftheEmpireStateBuildinginNew
YorkCity?Using[longitude=73.985656,latitude=40.748433],Earthradius=40,000/2,andtransforming
fromspherical>Cartesiancoordinates,youcanestimatethegeocentriccoordinatesoftheEmpireStateBuilding,
[x,y,z]=[1330.53km,4635.75km,4155.46km].GPSnavigationreliesonsuchgeocentriccoordinates.
Inengineeringprojects,agreementonthedefinitionofcoordinatesisacrucialfoundation.Onecannotassumethat
coordinatescomepredefinedforanovelapplication,soknowledgeofhowtoerectacoordinatesystemwhere
thereisnoneisessentialtoapplyingRenDescartes'ingeniousthinking.
Whilespatialappsemployidenticalunitsalongallaxes,inbusinessandscientificapps,eachaxismayhave
differentunitsofmeasurementassociatedwithit(suchaskilograms,seconds,pounds,etc.).Althoughfourand
higherdimensionalspacesaredifficulttovisualize,thealgebraofCartesiancoordinatescanbeextendedrelatively
easilytofourormorevariables,sothatcertaincalculationsinvolvingmanyvariablescanbedone.(Thissortof
algebraicextensioniswhatisusedtodefinethegeometryofhigherdimensionalspaces.)Conversely,itisoften
helpfultousethegeometryofCartesiancoordinatesintwoorthreedimensionstovisualizealgebraicrelationships
betweentwoorthreeofmanynonspatialvariables.

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Thegraphofafunctionorrelationisthesetofallpointssatisfyingthatfunctionorrelation.Forafunctionofone
variable,f,thesetofallpoints(x,y),wherey=f(x)isthegraphofthefunctionf.Forafunctiongoftwovariables,
thesetofallpoints(x,y,z),wherez=g(x,y)isthegraphofthefunctiong.Asketchofthegraphofsucha
functionorrelationwouldconsistofallthesalientpartsofthefunctionorrelationwhichwouldincludeitsrelative
extrema,itsconcavityandpointsofinflection,anypointsofdiscontinuityanditsendbehavior.Alloftheseterms
aremorefullydefinedincalculus.Suchgraphsareusefulincalculustounderstandthenatureandbehaviorofa
functionorrelation.

Seealso
Horizontalandvertical
Jonesdiagram,whichplotsfourvariablesratherthantwo.
Orthogonalcoordinates
Polarcoordinatesystem
Sphericalcoordinatesystem

Notes
References
1."Analyticgeometry".EncyclopdiaBritannica(EncyclopdiaBritannicaOnlineed.).2008.
2.Burton2011,p.374
3.ATouroftheCalculus,DavidBerlinski
4.SpringeronlinereferenceEncyclopediaofMathematics(http://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php/Cartesian_orthogo
nal_coordinate_system)
5.Smart1998,Chap.2
6.Brannan,Esplen&Gray1998,pg.49
7.Brannan,Esplen&Gray1998,Appendix2,pp.377382
8.DavidJ.Griffiths(1999).IntroductiontoElectrodynamics.PrenticeHall.ISBN013805326X.

Sources
Brannan,DavidA.Esplen,MatthewF.Gray,JeremyJ.(1998),Geometry,Cambridge:Cambridge
UniversityPress,ISBN0521597870
Burton,DavidM.(2011),TheHistoryofMathematics/AnIntroduction(7thed.),NewYork:McGrawHill,
ISBN9780073383156
Smart,JamesR.(1998),ModernGeometries(5thed.),PacificGrove:Brooks/Cole,ISBN0534351883

Furtherreading
Descartes,Ren(2001).DiscourseonMethod,Optics,Geometry,andMeteorology.Trans.byPaulJ.
Oscamp(Reviseded.).Indianapolis,IN:HackettPublishing.ISBN0872205673.OCLC488633510.
KornGA,KornTM(1961).MathematicalHandbookforScientistsandEngineers(1sted.).NewYork:
McGrawHill.pp.5579.LCCN5914456.OCLC19959906.
MargenauH,MurphyGM(1956).TheMathematicsofPhysicsandChemistry.NewYork:D.vanNostrand.
LCCN5510911.
MoonP,SpencerDE(1988)."RectangularCoordinates(x,y,z)".FieldTheoryHandbook,Including
CoordinateSystems,DifferentialEquations,andTheirSolutions(corrected2nd,3rdprinted.).NewYork:
SpringerVerlag.pp.911(Table1.01).ISBN9780387184302.
MorsePM,FeshbachH(1953).MethodsofTheoreticalPhysics,PartI.NewYork:McGrawHill.ISBN0
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CartesiancoordinatesystemWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

07043316X.LCCN5211515.
SauerR,SzabI(1967).MathematischeHilfsmitteldesIngenieurs.NewYork:SpringerVerlag.LCCN67
25285.

Externallinks
CartesianCoordinateSystem(http://www.cuttheknot.org/Curriculum/Calculus/Coordinates.shtml)
PrintableCartesianCoordinates(http://www.printfreegraphpaper.com/)
Cartesiancoordinates(http://planetmath.org/?op=getobj&from=objects&id=6016)atPlanetMath.org.
MathWorlddescriptionofCartesiancoordinates(http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CartesianCoordinates.html)
CoordinateConverterconvertsbetweenpolar,Cartesianandsphericalcoordinates(http://www.randomsci
encetools.com/maths/coordinateconverter.htm)
Coordinatesofapoint(http://www.mathopenref.com/coordpoint.html)Interactivetooltoexplore
coordinatesofapoint
opensourceJavaScriptclassfor2D/3DCartesiancoordinatesystemmanipulation(https://github.com/DanIs
raelMalta/CoordSysJS)
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